The Lost Secret
by MrsSCrosby87
Summary: Moving to Forks for her junior year, Bella instantly becomes friends with the Cullens and the Hales. There is one Cullen however, she is told to stay away from. Can Bella resist his charm? Or can she tame him? All Human. Rated M for language and content and future lemons!
1. Chapter 1

"_I knew in my head how it would all end, but how did I know you would touch my soul?Did you feel yourself turning the key? I hear the long ago words you spoke.. 'Don't fall in love.' I promised you that I wouldn't. I kept my promise dear.. For I didn't fall. I floated."_

Chapter One: God that smirk makes me swoon!

I hate going to a new school. I hate meeting new people. Most of all, I hate Forks! Why I ever decided to move to Forks, Washington to live with my father I will never truly know. The moment my plane touched the ground I was depressed. It's dark, cold, damp and everything in sight is covered in green! I had to share a small two bedroom, one bathroom house with my father Charlie, and as if that wasn't bad enough, I'm now on my way to my very first day at Forks High School. The school was basically what you would expect, a big building full of teenagers, nothing really new here. The only new thing for me was the stares. Forks was a small town, meaning everyone basically knew everybody. I was new. I'm the Chief of Police's daughter. And I was the talk of the town. I had managed to make it to the office without being stopped by any of my new admirers.

"Can I help you dear?" the lady behind the desk asked me.

"Uhh yes, it's my first day here, I need to know my classes."

"Oh yes! You must be Isabella right?" she smiled widely at me.

"Just Bella." I muttered.

"Well Bella, here is your schedule and your locker assignment. Your first class is in the same hallway as your locker. It isn't that big of a school so you should have no problems but here is a map just in case." she said while handing me a bunch of papers.

"Thanks." I mumble back to her as I take the papers and turn to leave.

"I hope you enjoy living in Forks Bella!" she calls as I leave through the door.

I turn around a give her a tight-lipped smile. I looked down at my map to find where exactly my locker was and noticed the red pen marking the easiest routes to my locker and my classes. Bless that woman! I must remember to thank her later. What may come as a surprise to some is that I actually came to Forks by my own will. Nobody forced me, I made the decision. So why am I living in a town I extremely detest? To be with my dad. My parents split before I was old enough to even remember and I have lived with my mother ever since. I used to visit my dad Charlie every summer until I reached 13 and decided to voice my hatred of Forks. Now, starting my Junior year of high school, it occurred to me that in two years I would be heading off to college and I had barely seen my father over the past four years. So without really thinking it through, I decided to finish my last two years of Hell here so that I could spend some time getting to know Charlie.

Now, unfortunately for me, and others around me, I'm not the most graceful person in the world. So of course, as I had my head down focusing on my map, I ran right into someone knocking them down to the floor.

_Way to stay low key Bella… _

"Oh my God I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going, ugh I'm so stupid! Are you okay?" I began to ramble nervously. I looked over and all I could see was a tangle of blonde hair and books laying all over the floor.

"Really I'm fine! I wasn't exactly watching where I was going either. I guess texting and walking should also be illegal!" My 'victim' explained and let out a melodious laugh as she began to pick up her things. I was about to apologize once again until the blonde stood up and I took a good look at her and became speechless. This girl was absolutely gorgeous! She had to be at least 6 feet tall, perfect skin, long flowing blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a body models would kill for. She smiled down at me and offered her hand.

"I'm Rosalie Hale by the way. I'm guessing you're Isabella Swan? People around here like to talk." she smiled at me as I took her hand.

"Actually it's just Bella." I smiled back at her.

"Well Bella, welcome to Forks High School! I assure you it's just like any other high school.. But I guess that isn't exactly comforting is it?" she began to laugh. There was something about this girl's laugh that made it impossible not to crack a smile. It was then I realized quite a few people had stopped to stare at the new girl as she made a fool of herself before even making it to homeroom.

"Hey didn't your mother ever tell you it's impolite to stare! Move along and mind your own damn business!" Rosalie snapped at our audience and they all began to disperse quickly with a look of fear in their eyes. _I think I'm in love. _

"Don't mind all of them. Nothing exciting really happens in this town so you're pretty big news. What classes do you have? Did you need any help finding them?" she asked as she took my schedule from my hands.

"Let's see here… History, Spanish, English, Lunch, Calculus, Biology and Gym. Wow quite the load there! Well lucky for you I have History, lunch and gym with you! Hmm I think my brother has English with you, I can introduce you at lunch." she looked up to me with a warm smile on her face. I had planned on being pretty much a loner when I arrived to Forks High but I could tell already that I liked this girl. She was beautiful yet extremely kind. She wasn't snobby like most girls who had her looks would be. And yet, after her little display earlier, she clearly knew how to stick up for herself. Plus, my favourite thing about her so far, she could tell I was shy and nervous and wasn't really up for talking a whole bunch. She pretty much carried the entire conversation by herself.

"Your locker is actually right outside our History class so that makes things easy for you! Come on I'll show you around." she said as she began walking the other way. I quickly picked my backpack up off the floor and followed her. After three unsuccessful tries at opening my locker, Rosalie stepped in and opened it in one try. I dumped my jacket in the locker before closing it and following Rosalie across the hallway and into our History class. Rosalie walked right back to the last row of desks and sat down, motioning for me to sit beside her. I was happy to know I would have a friend in at least one of my classes. I began pulling out my books when I noticed a guy with short blonde hair and blue eyes smirking as he was walking over to where Rosalie and I were sitting.

"Well, well if it isn't Rosalie Hale looking sexy as always. How was your summer beautiful?" he asked as he leaned over her desk.

"Ugh Newton, I have told you a million times, I have a boyfriend. And even if I didn't, there's still no chance in hell for you alright?"

"Damn girl, I like them feisty! Who's your friend?" he asked as he winked in my direction.

"Bella Swan and she also is not interested." Rosalie replied as she gave a smug smile.

"Well now I think Bella can decide that for herself. Hi Bella, my name is Mike Newton." he smiled as he turned his attention towards me.

"Nice to meet you Mike." I said awkwardly.

"So now that we're done here, you can leave now Newton." Rosalie smiled up at him.

"Hope to see you around Bella." he winked once more at me before walking to a desk at the front.

"Ugh whatever you do Bella, stay away from Mike Newton! He likes to act like he's the biggest ladies man around when in reality he can't even get one girl. And that is because the girls around here are smart! He's disgusting Bella seriously!" Rosalie explained as she scrunched up her face in disgust and I giggled. I really was beginning to like this girl and I appreciated that she felt the need to stand up for me. I knew I was going to follow her advice and stay away from Mike, she knoww better than I do.

"So you said you have a boyfriend? What's his name?" I asked attempting to make conversation. Rosalie's face lit up at the mention of her boyfriend and she got a dreamy look in her eyes.

"His name is Emmett. He's a senior. He has your typical jock looking body, except maybe a little more muscular up top. Short brown curly hair, big brown eyes and the personality of a giant teddy bear." she giggled as she explained him.

"Sounds like a nice guy. How long have you been together?" I smiled at her.

"It feels like it's been forever! But actually only since my freshman year. His sister Alice has been my best friend practically since birth. I grew up hanging around with Alice, Emmett and Alice's twin brother Edward. I never really saw Emmett as more than just a friend until high school came around and the teenage hormones kicked in. And he never saw me as anything more than his little sister's friend until I hit puberty." she giggled. "I'll introduce you to everyone at lunch. I think you will absolutely adore Alice! It's hard not to.. She began dating my brother Jasper last summer, he's also a senior. So between the four of us you'll be alright around here." she winked at me.

I smiled at the thought of having a close group of friends to hang out with daily. The only worry I had in the back of my mind was constantly being a fifth wheel in their little group. That's when I remembered Rosalie had mentioned Alice had a twin.

"And what about Alice's twin brother? What's he like?" I asked trying to seem innocent.

"Well… remember how I said Mike likes to think he's a ladies man? Well Edward is one. Every girl at this school would practically fall to the ground and kiss his feet just for the chance for him to look in their direction. I personally have never fallen into the ladies trap that is Edward Cullen, but that's most likely because I grew up with him and always had a thing for Emmett. There is no denying it though, he's good looking. He's tall, good body, crazy bronze hair that always seems perfectly messy, smouldering hazel eyes and a breath taking smile." she explained and I tried picturing this Edward Cullen in my mind. I had to admit, I liked what I saw.

"So does he hang out with you guys as well?" I asked.

"Oh of course. We may not all agree with the ways he acts but we all still love him no matter what. Honestly Bella, Edward has a heart of gold I know he does. He was always the sweetest boy I ever knew. Then when we came back to school the summer after freshman year, he was a completely different guy." Rosalie said with a sad smile on her lips.

"What happened over the summer to make him change?" I asked, fully intrigued with her story.

"I don't exactly know all of the details, he's pretty tight-lipped about it. Plus, it's not really my business to tell." she said as she turned her attention to the front of the room.

I looked up as well and realized first hour was almost over. Rosalie and I had spent almost the entire class talking and the time just flew by. Before I knew it the bell rang and I packed up my stuff to leave. I had Spanish next without Rosalie but she pointed me in the direction of my class and yelled to me to meet her at my locker at lunch time as she ran down the hall the other way. I was one of the first people to arrive in Spanish and I once again chose a seat in the back row. It's a lot easier to day dream at the back of the classroom. The classroom was beginning to fill up when a girl sat down beside me. I discreetly looked over to my right to get a look at the girl. She was very tiny, like snap in the wind tiny. She had long dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and glasses. I watched as she began fiddling with her hands and looking around the room nervously and I could automatically tell, this girl was as shy as me.

"Hi, my name is Bella Swan, I'm new to Forks." I said politely to her.

"Hi, I'm Angela Webber. Welcome to Forks." she smiled at me.

That was when my attention was brought to the girl sitting in front of me as she quickly whipped around in her chair.

"Oh my God your Bella! I have been hearing about you all morning and I couldn't wait to meet you! My name is Alice!" she said extremely enthusiastic as she extended her hand to me. She was pretty, but not your typical pretty. She was quiet small, with short black hair that spiked out at the back. She had an amazing smile and big brown eyes. Looking at her size there was one word that came to my mind to describe her. Pixie. A very enthusiastic little pixie, and I already liked her.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I think I've heard of you as well. Are you Alice Cullen?" I asked quite positive that this was the Alice that Rosalie had told me about.

"Yep that's me! How did you know? Oh I hope you didn't have a run in with my twin brother. I swear I'm nothing like him!" Alice said with a frown.

"No actually I literally ran into Rosalie Hale this morning and had first hour with her. She told me all about you." I smiled reassuringly at her. She didn't need to know that I knew all about her brother. Clearly his reputation was something that bothered Alice.

"Oh of course!" her face lit up. "Don't you just love that girl! I swear I would become bisexual for her!" she giggled then took in my shocked expression.

"Oh, wow I was totally kidding about that Bella! I was just trying to explain how much I love her! Oh man, you totally think I'm weird now don't you?" she said with a worried expression. I couldn't help but giggle at her.

"No I don't think your weird at all Alice! And Rosalie was right, I already do like you." I said and smiled warmly at Alice. Once again her face completely lit up with my words.

"So what other classes do you have Bells?" she asked, clearly already have given me a nickname.

"Umm English after this. Then lunch, Calculus, Biology and Gym." I read off my schedule.

"Eeeeeeep! We all have lunch together!" she shrieked excitedly and rather loud I might add, causing us to receive looks from others in the class.

"This is so exciting Bella! We get to hang out and talk all lunch period! Oh and Angela you should totally sit with us too if you have that lunch! Bring Ben as well!" she smiled over at Angela. Angela looked shocked by the fact someone was talking to her but I could see the small smile on her lips. It seemed as though Alice completely made her day by extending the invitation to her and immediately I knew Alice and I were going to be good friends.

"Actually, Ben and I have fifth lunch but thank you so much for the offer." Angela said quietly and smiled at Alice before looking back down to her book.

"Not a problem! Hopefully we have group projects and the three of us can work together!" Alice bounced excitedly in her seat. The teacher then called for the classes attention and Alice turned around in her seat without the chance to turn back around for the rest of the hour. When the bell rang, Alice also helped by pointing me in the direction of my English class before giving me a hug and skipping off down the hall.

"See you at lunch Bella!" she yelled over all the students.

English was a less eventful class for me as I sat by myself in the back. I tuned out the words of my teacher and looked around to all the faces in the room. I stopped scanning when my eyes landed on a boy sitting two rows over and three rows up. He had shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes and a dazzling smile. I knew I recognized those eyes as soon as I saw him and I assumed that this boy was none other than Jasper Hale. You could see the similarities between him and Rosalie as clear as day, and the good look genes had apparently been good to him as well. English passed uneventfully and I made my way back to my locker to meet up with Rosalie. When I turned the corner she was already there with Alice at her side.

"Hey guys." I said as I walked up behind them.

"Bella there you are! Ready for lunch?" Alice asked. I was going to have to get used to the volume of her voice. I nodded my head and the three of us began to walk towards what I assumed was the cafeteria. We sat down at a table near the center of the café after buying our lunches. I wasn't feeling too hungry so I just bought an apple and a vitamin water.

"So Bella how were the rest of your classes?" Rosalie asked as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Good. I had Alice in Spanish with me and I think I spotted your brother in my English class. I just assume it's him since he looks like you." I explained to Rosalie.

"Yea that was most likely him. Ha ha. We look more like twins then Alice and Edward do." she smiled as she nudged Alice. Just then a rather large guy walked up to the table and I immediately assumed he was Emmett. My thoughts were proven correct when he leaned over Rosalie and gave her a kiss.

"Hey babe. Hey little Sis." he said as he ruffled Alice's hair and sat down between the two girls.

"Emmett, this is Bella Swan. She just moved here. Bella this is my boyfriend, and Alice's older brother Emmett." Rosalie smiled at me as she introduced us.

"Well hello there little one it's nice to meet you." Emmett said with a genuine smile on his face. I could already see that teddy bear personality that Rosalie had talked about. "If any of the boys here cause you troubles you just let me know ok baby girl?" he added seriously.

"Geeze Emmett, you've known the girl for five seconds and you're already becoming protective brother bear." Alice snorted beside him.

"Hey I got to watch out for you cute little innocent ones. I was already too late to stop you from falling for this lunatic." he laughed as he threw an apple at someone behind me.

"Nice to feel the love Emmett." I heard a male voice behind me.

"Bella, this is Jasper. Jasper, this is Bella. She just moved her." Alice smiled and he sat down next to her.

"Well hello Bella it's a pleasure to meet you." he said as he shook my hand. He was extremely polite but I was confused as to why he had a hint of a southern accent. That's when I noticed Rosalie roll her eyes beside me.

"Jasper spent the summer visiting our Aunt and Uncle in Texas and likes to think he's a cowboy now or something." she explained while rolling her eyes again.

"Well I think it's very handsome." Alice said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you darlin'." he said and pretended to tip his hat. We all burst out laughing and I felt incredibly comfortable with the four of them. It felt as if I had known him my whole life. As our laughter died down I was distracted by the doors to the cafeteria opening. I looked up, and walking towards our table looking more like a Greek God than anyone really had the right to, was who I assumed to be Edward Cullen. Rosalie's description had not done him justice. This man was insanely good looking and I couldn't help but feel extremely plain after seeing him. Everything about him was perfect in my mind. The only flaw that I could see was a sadness in his eyes. He walked through the room with all the confidence in the world like he owned the place, and yet when I looked to his eyes I could see that really wasn't how he was feeling inside. My heart skipped a beat as I realized the only available seat at our table was right next to me. He strolled over to the table and gracefully sat down beside me without really noticing me there.

"Edward, bud, this right here is my baby girl Bella! Bella, this is my less cooler brother Edward." Emmett said as he punched Edward's shoulder.

"She's known both of us for all of ten seconds and I can assure you she most likely already disagrees with what you just said." Edward smirked.

_God that smirk! Swoon! _

"Hello Bella, I'm Edward Cullen." he said smoothly as he turned towards me and unleashed the power of his eyes on me. The moment his eyes locked on me I think I forgot how to breathe. I could not explain the way I was feeling. Nobody had ever had this effect on me.

"Uh, Hi. Nice to meet you." I said quietly, barley finding my voice.

_Perfect, he thinks I'm an idiot. _

"So Baby Bell, what classes do you have after lunch?" Emmett asked snapping me out of my Edward-induced haze.

"Uuhh, Calculus, Biology then Gym." I said, scrunching my face as I said gym.

_Ugh Gym! _

"Well what a coincidence baby bear! I have calc after lunch as well!" Emmett beamed over at me. I already loved Emmett. He honestly was the big brother I never had and I was excited to know I would have a class with him.

"I believe you were in my English class right?" Jasper asked.

"Yea, I thought that was you. Going from what Rosalie told me about you I assumed you were her brother." I smiled at him.

"Well Bella, after you endure that horrible hour of calculus with my brother, you'll be happy to know you get to spend bio with me." Edward's velvet voice said beside me. I turned in time to see him smirk and turn away.

_That smirk will be the death of me!_

"No! you can back off right now bro! If you think I'm letting you anywhere near my baby girl you're sadly mistaken!" Emmett said while pointing his fork at Edward. I instantly blushed from Emmett's comment that Edward would somehow be after me. Was he blind? Clearly someone like Edward would never go for me. Especially since it seemed every girl in Forks wanted him.

"I was merely explaining to Bella that she will have a friend in bio. Geeze Emmett there's no need to get all defensive." Edward said in a very calm voice beside me.

I was so caught up in the conversation that I was surprised when the bell rang ending lunch. I stood and threw my empty bottle in the recycling bin and turned around to say bye to everyone.

"I'll see you in gym Bella!" Rosalie smiled at me. "And you, don't scare her away!" she said to Emmett as she kissed his cheek.

"Why would she be scared of little ol' me! Come on shrimp, let's go to calc!" Emmett said as he bent down in front of me. I wasn't positive as to what he was doing so I just stood there with a confused look on my face.

"Come on girl! Get on my back!" he said as I realized he wanted to give me a piggy back ride. I was about to protest when I looked at him and realized he wasn't going to take no for an answer. I reluctantly climbed onto his back and he hiked me up higher and started to walk out of the café.

"Good luck Bella!" I heard and turned around in time to see Edward smirk one last time before leaving the cafeteria.

Emmett walked us to our calculus class and went to the row of desks at the back before putting me down. He pulled out my chair for me and I smiled up at him. I really did like Emmett.

"So short stack, how you liking Forks so far?"

"I really don't like the weather. And I was dreading school until I bumped into Rosalie this morning. I don't think I could have chosen a better person to run into." I said honestly.

"Yea, Rose is great. Heart of pure gold in that girl. Knowing Rose, I assume she has already given you her warning about my brother, but I'm going to give you one as well. I love my brother with all my heart Bells, and he's a great guy, he just seems to put on this act around everyone else. I was surprised how normal he acted around you at lunch today. I expected as soon as he saw a stranger there he would have turned into douche-mode. Trust me Bells, you'll notice it when others are around. Just be careful. I really don't want him to take advantage of you." Emmett explained and smiled down at me.

"Well thank you Em, it's nice to know you're looking out for me."

Calculus by far was the most boring class of the day. Luckily, I had Emmett. He was constantly whispering jokes in my ear or making faces at me or passing notes. He kept me entertained and before I knew it the hour was over.

"Well Baby girl this is where we part ways. Remember what I said about Edward." he said as he gave me a big bear hug.

"Thanks Em, I'll see you later!" I hugged him back and rushed off to find the biology room.

Luckily I arrived in plenty of time as I was the first person there. I once again went to the back of the room and sat down at the lab bench. I was looking over my reading list from English class when I heard the stool beside me scrap along the floor. I looked up into the eyes belonging to Edward Cullen.

"So, I see you survived an hour with my brother. You deserve a medal or something." he smirked.

"Actually I really like Emmett. He's like the big brother I never had." I smiled at him.

"You like me better though right? And not as a brother?" he asked and winked at me. I looked up and noticed people were staring at us. So this must be the over-confident douche coming out to play. Little did he know, I was ready for him.

"Well actually I don't really know you well enough to like you better." I answered easily as I looked back down to my reading list. That's when I got the biggest shock of the day as I felt his hand graze my thigh and he leaned in so his lips were right beside my ear.

"We'll have to change that then won't we?" he whispered causing shivers to shoot through my body.

All too soon his hand was gone and he was facing the front of the room. I didn't fail to notice the giant smug grin on his face.

_So that's how you want to play it eh Cullen? Fine with me. _

I spent the rest of bio doing my best to ignore him and when the bell finally rang I sprang from my seat as fast as I could to avoid any further communication between us. I met up with Rosalie at the gym and we walked into the change room together to change into our uniforms.

"I really like Emmett." I smiled at Rose as we were changing. "I've known the guy for like three hours and yet I feel like he's my brother or something." I laughed as we exited the change room.

"Yea, Emmett's like that. He seems so tough yet he is actually the biggest sweet heart. I think you remind him of Alice which is why he got all protective. Did you have any other run ins with Edward?" she asked as we entered the gym.

I bit the side of my cheek not really knowing if I should tell her the truth or not.

"Oh I know that look! What did he do?" Rose asked.

"Well it was nothing really, he just, put his hand on my leg and whispered to me that we would have to get to know each other better. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle." I stammered out nervously.

"Ugh that dick! Even after Emmett threatened him he pounces on you like you're his prey! Emmett won't be happy when he hears this!" she said angrily.

"No! please don't tell him. Seriously Rose I can handle Edward. He isn't going to fool me. The charm won't work." I reassured her.

"Well if you're sure. But if he keeps it up let me know okay?"

"Of course."

Luckily gym didn't require any physical activity today so I made it out in one piece. I said goodbye to Rose as I headed out towards the parking lot. It had been raining all day making the ground a bit slippy so I had to take extra precautions walking to my car. Unfortunately I wasn't careful enough and right before I reached my truck my foot slipped from under me and I fell backwards. Right before I hit the ground I was caught by two strong arms that pulled me back up. I could feel the persons chest rumbling against my back and I realized they were silently laughing. I turned around and came face to face once again with Edward Cullen. He still had that smirk plastered on his face and his eyes were staring right into mine.

"Well, well, you haven't even been here for a day and you're already falling for me." he winked and released his hold on me and walked away. I walked in a daze to my truck and jumped in and just sat staring out the windshield with only one thought running through my mine…

_I was in trouble… _


	2. Chapter 2

**I am sooooooo sorry that I completely forgot about this story! Right after I posted the first chapter I left to go back packing through Europe. 4 months and my entire bank account later I came home to find out i needed to get surgery. As I've been laying at home recovering I remembered I started this story and I got lots of ideas as to where i wanted it to go. So I'm back now and I hope I still have some readers left! Now on with the story! **

Chapter Two: Who is the REAL Edward Cullen? 

**Edward's POV**

What the hell was it about Isabella Swan? The fact that my brother wanted me to stay the hell away from her made it all the more fun. Okay, I know that sounds bad, but I'm joking. No seriously. I'm not really this big bad ass jerk that everyone thinks I am. I may act like it, but the person I really am I keep hidden, protected. Act like an ass, don't get hurt right? Well that's the logic I live by now, I learned the hard way last summer. But I meant what I said, there is something about Isabella Swan. After school I couldn't stop thinking about her. Did she really believe all the bad things she had heard about me? Would she actually listen to my brother and Rosalie and stay away from me? I knew I had an affect on her, that was obvious when I smirked at her. I heard her sharp intake of breath, I could dazzle her. But it just wasn't working the same way it does on every other girl. She wasn't swooning over me. She was fighting it.

"Edward? EDWARD!" Alice snapped in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Alice, was daydreaming I guess."

"Yeah no kidding. Jessica is on the phone for you." she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, just tell her I'm in the shower or something."

If there was one thing I hated, it was pushy girls who couldn't take a hint. I realized I was the object of affection to a lot of girls attending Forks High, but was it my fault I had absolutely no interest in them? It got annoying.

"Fine, but you owe me!" she sang and she skipped out of my room.

"Of course I do." I muttered and rolled my eyes.

I closed my eyes once I heard my door close but about 30 seconds later it flew open again and Alice jumped up onto my bed.

"So… lets talk about Bella!" she said with a big smile on her face.

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused by where this came from.

"Oh puuuuhleeez don't play dumb with me! I see that look in your eye! Plus, you've totally been out of it all day." she said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"So, that doesn't mean it has anything to do with Bella." I tried, but Alice could read me like a book.

"Well you just happen to be acting like this the day you met her plus I totally saw the way you were looking at her during lunch." she raised her eyebrow at me.

There's no way out of it now, she already knows and denying it would be pointless. However, Alice didn't need to know exactly what I was thinking about Bella.

"Fine, I'm just trying to figure out how she wasn't affected by my charm."

It wasn't a total lie, I was curious. Alice just stared at me for a minute before she finally spoke.

"Seriously? That's what you've been thinking about all day! You don't have a crush on Bella?" she asked incredulously.

_Crush._ that word caught me off guard. I didn't have a crush on Bella. Did I? I mean sure, she was pretty in a not really trying kind of way, plus she wasn't hanging all over me practically drooling. But a crush? Leave it to Alice to plant these ideas in my head and make me even more confused then I already was. Speaking of Alice, she was still standing, hands on hips, waiting for an answer.

"Oh lets be serious for a second Alice. Me have a crush on Bella? I have every girl at that school tripping over each other just to get near me. Why would I choose someone as plain as Bella?"

_Way to sound like a prick Edward.. _

I felt bad about it but I couldn't let Alice know what I was really thinking about. Plus, this would get her off my back for a while. It worked, she shot me a death glare and stormed out of my room, obviously believing what I had said. I was satisfied and decided to turn in for the night, excited because tomorrow was Friday, but also because I would see Bella again.

* * *

><p>The next morning I woke up and realized I had over slept and none of my family decided to wake me up.<p>

_Nice. _

I jumped out of bed at 7:15 and was showered and dressed by 7:22. Record for me. I ran down to the kitchen, grabbing a chocolate chip muffin and the keys to my Volvo before rushing out the door. I was making good time and would probably only be about 5 minutes late to homeroom when I noticed an old orange pick up truck on the side of the road and a small brunette slumped over the steering wheel.

_Bella. _

Forgetting all about school, I quickly pulled over to the side of the road and jumped out of my car. She didn't notice me approach and when I knocked on the window she just stared at me, not making any move to open the window or door.

"Uh, hey.. Are you okay? Do you need some help?" I asked her through the window.

She finally moved and opened her car door, sliding out to stand in front of me. I waited for her to answer me, to say anything really, but all she did was stand there and stare at me.

"Bella? You alright?"

"What? Uh.. Yea.. I'm good. Umm I was driving to school and my truck broke down." she finally responded.

"Well that doesn't surprise me, it's a piece of shit."

"Well I didn't ask you for your opinion of my truck! In fact I didn't ask you for anything so how about you jump back in your soccer-mom car and continue on your way!" she snapped at me.

I smirked at her little outburst. I enjoyed the effect I had on her, even if it was making her angry.

"Alright, sorry, my bad. Do you need some help?"

"Well I called for a tow truck.. But he may be a couple of hours since there is only one freaking truck in this town!"

"Well do you need a ride to school? That is if you're not totally embarrassed riding in my mom-car." I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

She hesitated for a moment, weighing her options before realizing there was no other option other than sitting in her car for who knows how long.

"Uh, yea sure, I guess. That would be nice thank you." she mumbled without looking up at me.

"My pleasure." I said more to myself as she was already on her way to my car.

I turned up the heat in the car and pulled back onto the road heading towards school. The silence was starting to get to me so I decided to try and spark a conversation.

"Soooo.. Are you going to that thing at Newton's tonight?"

"What? What thing at Newton's?" she asked, still not making eye contact with me.

"Every year Mike has a party at his house to kick off the new school year. His parents are in the Dominican at this time every year so it's the perfect time for a party." I explained. Newton got on my nerves quite a bit. He was always following me around and basically trying to be me. Annoying. But I had to admit, he threw one hell of a party.

"Oh, uhh, I didn't even know about it. Are you going?" still not making eye contact…

"Yea, me, Jazz and Em are going. Plus the ladies of course. You can come with us if you want, I'm sure my sister will probably drag you along anyways." I said.

Friendly enough right? So why the hell was she still not looking at me!

"Yea sounds like fun. I'll talk to the girls about it." she mumbled.

I was never so happy to see the school in my life! Get me out of this awkward situation please!

_Only 20 minutes late. Atta boy Cullen. _

"Um, thank you for the ride."

"No problem" I answered as I cut the engine and reached for the door handle.

"Edward?" I heard from behind me before I stepped out of the car.

I turned back to look at Bella who was watching her hands in her lap. She looked.. Nervous?

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering, why does everyone think you're such an ass?" she asked, still without looking up.

_Hmm how to answer that one… The truth? _

"Because I am one." I simply answered as I stepped out of the car.

I heard her door close behind me as I made my way towards the school and her hurried footsteps trying to catch up to me.

"No that's not what I meant Edward." she said as she caught up to me.

I stopped walking and turned to face her.

"Then what did you mean?"

Now she was looking at me, staring right into my eyes and she looked almost.. Sad?

"I guess what I meant was, why do you act that way? Everyone told me you only started acting like this last year, that you have this heart of pure gold. I can see the kindness in your eyes. I know I'm over stepping boundaries here cause we just met but I'm trying to figure you out. What could have possibly happened to make you want to act this way?"

It was the most I had heard her speak since I met her and I instantly knew I was in trouble. This girl wasn't going to just accept my doucheness and be okay with it. She wanted to know about me. The real me. But who is the real me? I thought I used to know. I thought I knew everything, until that one day it all came crashing down… I didn't even want to think of that day. I could feel the tears fighting to break through and I refused to let it happen.

"I am who I am Bella, sorry if you and my family can't accept that." I said and turned around and rushed into the school before she could say another thing.

_I am royally screwed! _

**Bella's POV **

_What the fuck?_

I'd just got it. I'd just got exactly what I had wanted since I first heard about Edward Cullen. I saw the real him. Rosalie was right, something had happened to Edward to change him. And Emmett was right too. I believed that he had that heart of pure gold in there too. Sitting in his car the whole way to school I debated with myself whether or not I should ask him. Would he be mad? Would he tell me to fuck off and get out of his car? I was nervous, but the entire ride he didn't bring his douche-side out to play at all. He was just being Edward. The first answer he gave me left me confused. When I asked why people thought he was an ass, he said it's because he is. But if he knew that, why does he still act like it? What could have happened last summer? And when he finally answered my question then made his speedy escape I saw exactly what he was trying to hide.

Edward Cullen had tears in his eyes.

After I went to the office to get a note for being late it was already a half hour through first period. I walked into History and handed my teacher the note and made my way to the back to sit beside Rosalie.

"Hey where were you?" she whispered as I took my seat.

"My truck broke down on my way, I was waiting for the tow truck."

"Oh, you should have text me I would have came and got you so you didn't have to wait. They take forever sometimes."

"Well actually I didn't have to wait for them, I got another ride." I tried to say innocently but failed miserably.

"Got a ride from who?" she asked and raised her eye brow sceptically.

"Uhh, from Edward?" it came out as more of a question.

"You got a ride from Edward? Seriously? And how did that go?"

"Rose, if I tell you something, do you promise not to tell any of the others?"

Her interest was clearly piqued as she spun around in her chair to face me fully with a gleam in her eye.

"I promise. What is it?"

"I uh, I made Edward Cullen cry.." I sort of whispered the last part.

Rosalie's eyes nearly buggged out of her head as she absorbed what I just said.

"Wait, What? You made him cry? Like balling his eyes out crying or just shed a few tears?"

"Well I didn't actually see him cry. We were talking and his eyes started to get watery and I could see the tears welling up and he turned from me quickly and walked off." I explained.

"Huh. Interesting. What were you guys talking about?" I knew she would ask this question. Would she think I'm an idiot for asking him, for not taking all of their advice and leave it alone?

"Well I asked him why he acted like such an ass. How you guys all said he was actually a nice guy but put up this wall." I said, not really making eye contact with her.

"Wow, you've got balls." she sounded impressed. "And what did he say?"

I was surprised she didn't rip me a new one. Happy actually, cause Rosalie kind of terrified me.

"He said, 'I am who I am Bella, sorry if you and my family can't accept that' then he stormed off."

"That's weird. He is who he is? Except that he's not and we all know that. The fact that he was crying too, yeah that just further proves our theory. Something happened." she said and she looked deep in thought about something.

"Further proves? Why what other proof do you have?" I was interested.

"Well, he started acting this way the beginning of the school year last year and none of us knew why. Like where was the sweet Edward we all knew? The Edward who carried me all the way home after I fell off my bike when we were 6. The Edward who punched Mike Newton in the face in 8th grade after he hit on Alice. Over the span of 3 months our friend had completely disappeared. Honestly, it was devastating, it still is. We all miss Edward, and every once in a while he shows a glimpse of his old self and it just makes us miss him more." she was starting to get tears in her eyes as she spoke.

_Wow good job Bella, made two people cry before first period is even over._

"Anyways, a few months ago, Jasper and Emmett decided that enough was enough. They wanted Edward back and they were going to figure it out. So one afternoon we were all hanging out in the Cullen's basement and Emmett called him out on it. He started throwing a fit saying it wasn't anybody's business and why should he tell us. I told him that he could trust us and whatever it was we could help him. He said that there was nobody he could trust, that everybody lied to him and he punched a hole in the wall and ran upstairs. After that we all decided not to bring it up again." she finished saying and by now the tears were rolling down her face.

I didn't know what to say. They were all obviously so affected by this. They all love Edward unconditionally, that was clear. And all they wanted was the old Edward back. But what could have happened to him?

"He said everybody lied to him? Well that's the answer right there. That's what is upsetting him. Someone obviously lied to him about something huge and now he's using his attitude as a defence against everyone. He's scared." I explained as Rosalie wiped her cheeks dry.

"Scared of what?" she whispered.

"Of letting people in."

* * *

><p>Sitting at lunch, Rosalie explained to me that we had to let the others know. If we were all going to figure this out they had to be in on it. So I told the other three what had happened before Edward had made his way to lunch. All three of them sat there stunned.<p>

"So he cried? Shit I knew something was wrong with him. When he came into Latin this morning his eyes were blood-shot. Honestly, I thought he was high." Jasper told us. "He didn't even look at me the whole class, then he stormed out right as the bell rang."

"Yeah, he was the same way in English too. I asked him what was wrong and he just told me to piss off. Didn't talk to me the rest of class." Emmett said.

"Well he didn't even show up to calc." Rosalie piped in. "Seriously guys he's going through something. We've all just gotten too comfortable accepting that he's changed when he's practically been silently screaming for help all this time. He needs us guys."

"Incoming." Jasper said quietly, looking behind me.

Edward pulled out the chair beside me and began eating his lunch without even looking at any of us. To say the silence was awkward would be an understatement. He knew. He definitely knew that I told them about this morning. He seemed almost embarrassed.

"So Bella," Alice piped up, "you're coming with us to Mike's party tonight. You can come over to my house after school and we can all get ready together. Oooh and sleepover too! Rosalie is. We can have one big slumber party!" she said while clapping and bouncing in her chair.

"Yeah sure Alice, sounds great." I tried to smile but all I could focus on was the boy sitting beside me.

Lunch passed without any word from Edward. And Calc wasn't as fun today. Emmett was clearly preoccupied thinking about his little brother. I wasn't looking forward to Bio. Would he still be pissed at me? Oh God I hope not. Me and my giant mouth, I just had to ask him didn't I? He was already sitting at our lab table when I arrived. Head down, writing in his notebook. He didn't look up as I sat beside him and I wasn't sure what to do.

_Do I talk to him? Sure, why the Hell not. Can't make things any worse!_

"I'm sorry." I whispered so quietly I wasn't sure if he heard me.

Apparently he had because he lifted his head and looked right into my eyes. His eyes were so beautiful, so green. But right now, they were sad.

"It's okay Bella." he whispered back almost quieter than I had then he put his head back down. It broke my heart.

I was officially determined. I was going to fix Edward Cullen.

**So there you have it! Chapter two! So next chapter will be the party, and we may see a little bit more into the mind of Edward Cullen. What is it that happened to him? Would love to hear from you guys! :) I've already started the next chapter so hopefully i should have it up in the next couple of days! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hellooo! Just a quick note before you read, there are links for Rosalie's car and the Cullen's house on my profile!**

**Bella's POV**

Rosalie gave me a ride home from school since I still didn't have my truck back. She offered to wait for me to change so we could just head over to Alice's together and I was grateful for that. I quickly packed the essentials in a back pack, wrote a note for Charlie and dashed back out the door to Rosalie's truck. I loved the fact that she also drove a truck, however, her blue beast of a Chevy Silverado put my poor truck to shame. Rosalie of course, really took driving a truck seriously and blasted Keith Urban the entire ride to the Cullen's. I couldn't complain though, the songs were actually pretty catchy. I felt like we had been driving forever. The Cullen's certainly lived on the outskirts of Forks. We pulled into a drive way secluded by trees and drove about another minute before the trees broke up and a gorgeous house stood before us. Let me make that mansion! This house was bigger than anything I had ever seen before in my life. The house was at least three stories tall, probably with a basement as well that I couldn't see. Some of the house was made with grey slate and the entire front was wood panels and windows. There were balconies on all three floors and the roof was all different types of shapes and there were different wings of the house sticking out each side. I stepped out of Rosalie's truck and just stood there catching flies.

"Yeah, I know. It's a bit much to take in at first. Just wait till you see the inside. This house is Esme's pride and joy." Rosalie grabbed her bag from the truck and made her way towards the house.

As we were walking up the steps to the house the front door flew open before we even reached it.

"I'm so glad you're here! Rosalie, I call dibs on Bella!" Alice shouted and she jumped on the spot. This girl was way too wired all the time.

"What? Dibs on me?" I wasn't sure I was liking the sounds of this.

"Of course Bella! I get to dress you for the evening!" Alice explained as if it were obvious.

"Oh, okay then. Sounds fun." I said. I really didn't have any problem with Alice picking out my clothes. When I heard Rosalie snicker beside me before entering the house I started to have second thoughts.

All those worries flew right out of my head as I stepped into the Cullen home. We were in a giant entry way with high, pointed ceilings and wooden beams. I could see straight ahead a kitchen in the back of the house, with a large window over looking the forest. To my left, there was a dining room with a huge fireplace and more windows and to my right was a nice sitting room. On both sides of the hall were staircases. One leading up to the left and one to the right.

"My room is up the left stairs." Alice pointed me in the right direction.

I followed the girls in silence, still taking everything in. once we reached the second floor we were on a landing. Looking down over the rail you could see the entry hall. The back was of the landing was made completely of windows. On the left of me was a door and on the right was another small staircase.

"This is my room here," Alice pointed to the door on my left. "Mine is the only room on this floor on this side of the house. Mom and Dad's room is up that staircase there." she explained.

"Wow, you have a whole floor to yourself? But where do your brothers sleep?" I was still trying to wrap my head around this incredible house.

"Oh! Their rooms are up the other staircase in the entry hall. They have a separate wing of the house." she explained as she headed into her room.

Alice's room fit her personality perfectly. It was huge, just like every other room of the house. The entire back wall was windows with lace curtains covering them completely. She had a big king sized bed that I couldn't wait to jump on. The colour scheme seemed to be hot pink, white and black. She had a bathroom attached to her room that was all blue and black tiles. I just sat on her bed and looked around when Alice disappeared behind a door on the other side of the room. I was assuming it was her closet.

"So Bella," I could barely hear Alice say.

_Jesus, how big is that closet? _

"I'm thinking for your outfit, black skinny jeans, gold sequined tank top , smoky eyes and wavy hair left down." I heard her yell from the closet.

"Umm Alice that sounds great, except I only brought a hoodie with me."

Seriously had she not noticed how I dressed? I definitely was not the trendy type.

"Oh silly Bella! I know that. You're going to wear these of course!" She said as she walked out of the closet, mentioned outfit in hand.

"Oh, Alice, you don't have to lend me your clothes. Really I'm fine with what I have on."

"Nonsense Bella! You're going to wear this outfit and you're going to look hot! Now come with me to the bathroom so I can do your hair and make up." she ordered me.

From the look I received from Rose, I figured I better listen to her. It wasn't long before all of us were ready. The outfit Alice picked for me really was amazing and I was glad she chose a pair of black sparkly ballet flats for me to wear. Rosalie looked amazing in a tight pair of dark skinny jeans and a red halter top that swooped down at the front leaving little to the imagination. She finished off the look with an amazing pair of red pumps. Alice wore a short, tight black leather skirt that barely covered her ass, a plain white tube top and white heels. They both looked way too sexy for me to even try on those outfits, but Rose and Alice looked amazing in them.

"_Alice? You girls ready?" _I heard Edward's voice, but I couldn't see him.

Alice giggled when she noticed my confused expression.

"It's the intercom Bella." she explained as she walked over to a speaker on the wall and pushed a button.

"Yep we just finished getting dressed."

"_Cool. Em and I made pizza for everyone. Come down to the kitchen." _

"Be right there!" she shouted and let go of the button. "Come on, let's go I'm starving!" she yelled as she had already began running down the stairs.

Rose and I followed at a much slower pace and we were just walking into the kitchen when I heard.

"Hell no Alice! There is no way I am letting you out of this house in that outfit!" Rose and I entered the room to see Edward, arms crossed, staring at Alice.

"Well it's a good thing you're not my father then isn't it Eddie!" Alice fought back as she took a bite of pizza.

"Over my dead body Alice. Go upstairs right now and change or I'm not bringing you. There is no way I'm letting my baby sister out of this house dressed like that." Edward argued back, and by the look on his face, I would listen to him.

"Jesus! You're like what.. 30 minutes older than me and you think you can push me around!" Alice grumbled, but she was already on her way out of the kitchen and back upstairs to change.

Hmm, yet another side to add to the mystery that is Edward Cullen.

Protective big brother.

**Edward's POV**

I could still remember the day clearly when I learned my life would be a living Hell. It was 8th grade, at lunch time. I was sitting at my usual table with Jasper when I saw it. Greasy Mike Newton hitting on my baby sister. I remember when we were 5, and my dad explained how even though we were twins, I was 30 minutes older than her. From that moment on I always saw Alice as my little sister, someone I had to look out for. I stood from the table, Jasper following close behind, walked up to Newton and punched him right on the nose. Needless to say, I think I got my point across. I loved my mom and dad, I loved Emmett, but nobody would hold a bigger place in my heart than Alice. Sometimes that was the hardest part about my whole act. I hated being mean to Alice. But how could I tell her? How could I possibly expect her to still feel the same way about me once she knew. No, there was no way I could tell Alice, I couldn't lose her. I often thought about telling Emmett, just to get it off my chest, but every time I tried, I couldn't. I felt like saying it out loud would make it reality, even though I already knew it was. My parents don't even know, they think I'm just being a moody teenage boy. The truth is, I wouldn't even know how to bring it up in conversation. How do you just tell somebody about it? No, I just had to keep it to myself. Once I was satisfied that Alice was going to change, I grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and headed towards the basement.

"Rose, Bella, help yourselves there's tons of it. You both look nice by the way." I smiled as I passed them.

"What the Hell? Did Edward Cullen just compliment me?" I heard Rosalie say to Emmett as I was walking down the stairs.

Yeah, I knew I was confusing the Hell out of them but I just really didn't know what to do. What Bella said to me today really got me thinking. If my siblings and best friends were talking to her about me then they obviously hadn't gotten over my attitude like I thought. But I also knew why they wouldn't talk to me about it. I can't say I'm proud of how I handled things the last time. I sat down on the couch and put on a hockey game. I heard light footsteps coming down the stairs and then her voice before I could turn around.

"You know, I'm not going to give up Edward." Bella said as she sat down beside me on the couch.

"Give up on what?" I was afraid of her answer.

"On trying to figure out what's bothering you."

I sighed loudly. This was exactly what I didn't want.

"I really wish you would Bella." I simply said and directed my eyes back to the TV.

"But.."

"Look Bella," I cut her off, "I'm sorry that I have my ass hole moments. Honestly I am. But nothing you do or say is going to change how I feel. Even if you did figure out what it is there is still no way for you to help me. I can't even help myself. So please just drop it."

"YO children let's get going! I'm ready to rock out with my cock out! WOO!" Emmett's voice boomed down the stairs.

_Typical Emmett behaviour. _

"Come on Swan, we've got a party to get to"

* * *

><p>When we arrived at Newton's house the place was absolutely crazy. It was clear that all of Forks High was there, plus some out of town kids as well. Once we entered the house we split. The guys went to the kitchen and the girls went to go dance. This is how these things usually happened.<p>

4 hours later, way passed 1 in the morning, I was still hanging out in the kitchen with Em and Jazz. Emmett was completely hammered and I wasn't exactly looking forward to my task of dragging him up the stairs, however, he's funny as shit when he's drunk and I couldn't help but laugh at him. Of course, the one thing bringing down my mood was Jessica Stanley hanging all over my arm. Seriously, can this girl not take a hint? She's practically shoving her chest in my face and I show no interest at all. I decided it was probably time to leave and told the guys to split up and find the girls. Of course, Emmett's response was to fall off his chair onto the floor. I so was not dealing with that. I walked out of the kitchen and spotted Rose just coming out of the bathroom, not looking too sober herself.

"Hey Rose, we're gonna head out now. Have you seen Alice and Bella?"

"Ummm last I saw Alice was outside, I haven't seen Bella in like over an hour."

"Okay, well start making your way to the car. Oh and by the way, your boyfriend is laying on the kitchen floor. Have fun with that." I smirked as she groaned and made her way into the kitchen. I walked into the living room and scanned the area. Then I spotted Mike sitting on the couch, with his arm around Bella. And Bella.. Was completely passed out.

"Jesus Christ Newton did you drug her?" I yelled as I walked up to him.

"Woah, calm down Cullen, she's had just a bit too much too drink." he replied while holding his hands up.

"Yeah well I can clearly see that Mike." I snapped.

I was not in the mood to get into it with Mike so I simply lifted Bella up bridal style and carried her out of the house. Rose, Alice, Jazz and Em were all standing by Emmett's truck when I walked out.

"Holy crap is she okay?" Alice yelled when she saw us.

"Yeah Al, she's just passed out. Clearly drank way too much." I sent a glare towards her and Rosalie for clearly not taking better care of their friend.

"Hand me the keys and I'll open the door for you." Alice held out her hand.

She unlocked the doors and everyone piled in. Alice opened up the passenger door for me and I gently slid Bella into the seat and buckled her up. Once I made sure she was secure, Alice hoped in the back and I jumped into the driver's seat and headed for home.

Bella was still passed out when we got to my house.

"Hey Eddie, do you think you could carry her up to my room?" Alice asked sweetly.

_Ugh, damn her pulling the sweet little sister card. _

"Yeah. That means you're on Emmett duty Jazz, have fun with that." I smirked as I lifted Bella out of the car.

"Son of a bitch." I heard Jasper mutter as he began to drag Emmett into the house.

Lucky for me Bella didn't weigh that much and I easily carried her up the stairs and lay her down on Alice's bed.

"Well, that's my job done. Good night ladies." I smiled to Rose and gave Alice a kiss on the cheek on my way out of the room.

"Hey Eddie?" I heard Rosalie quietly say when I reached the door.

"Yeah Rose?" I turned around to face her.

"I've missed you." she practically whispered and wrapped her arms around me.

Alice must have saw my confused expression because she spoke up.

"You've been really good all day. Like the old Edward. It's nice." she explained with a small smile.

"Oh." was all I could manage.

_Damn, way to make me feel really shitty. _

"Uh, yeah goodnight." I kissed Rose on the forehead and closed the door behind me. They were all beginning to make this really hard on me. What was I supposed to do? Could I let them all in? I wanted to so bad, I wanted nothing more than to go back into that room, sit down with Alice and Rose and spill my guts to them. I wanted them to comfort me and say all the right things. I just wanted to feel their love for me again. But I couldn't do it. Instead I made my way back down the stairs and up to my wing of the house.

I stuck my head into Em's room on my way to my own and saw him passed out on his bed and Jasper on his couch. I walked into my room and closed the door behind me.

That was as far as I could make it before I sank down to the ground and cried.

* * *

><p><strong>Bella's POV<strong>

The weekend was interesting to say the least. After the talk I had with Edward, one thing he had said stuck in my mind and I couldn't seem to be able to forget it.

"_I can't even help myself Bella."_

Well what the Hell was that supposed to mean? Couldn't help himself with what? I was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. I just wanted to help him. Of course, Saturday morning I woke up in Alice's bed, no memory of how I got there, and felt like I had died the night before. The girls informed me that Edward had to carry me from the party and then put me in Alice's bed.

_Perfect. Real classy Bella. _

We decided to just lay in the Cullen's basement and watch movies all day. Edward never made an appearance. Alice texted me Sunday afternoon and said that Edward had finally showed his face at breakfast and that he looked like Hell. Apparently her mom asked him what was wrong and gave him a hug and he just broke down and cried in her arms.

_What the Hell is going on!_

Of course, sitting at lunch on Monday, Edward is once again MIA.

"Where's Edward?" I finally asked after 15 minutes. He's always here by now.

"Principal's office." Emmett replied through a mouthful of sandwich.

"What? Why?" Alice asked.

"I don't know," Em shrugged his shoulders. "He just texted me and said that's where he was."

I was driving myself crazy thinking about Edward so I decided to look over some work for class after lunch. Of course when I looked into my backpack, my book wasn't there.

"Shit, guys I left my book in my truck I'm going to go get it. I'll see you in calc Em." I said as I gathered all my stuff.

They all mumbled their goodbyes as I made my way out of the Café. As I made my way to my truck, I noticed that all of the picnic tables outside were empty except for one.

_There he is!_

Edward was sitting on top of one of the tables smoking a cigarette. I figured my book could wait and made my way over to him.

"Hey, we missed you at lunch." I said once I reached his side.

That was when he looked up at me.

_Holy Shit!_

All around his left eye was bruised and there was a big welt underneath it which was swelling his eye almost shut. He had a cut on his lower lip and one across his right cheek. He flicked out his smoke and tried to hide his face when he saw it was me.

"Holy Shit Edward what happened?' I asked.

The concern was clear in my voice and I couldn't stop myself before I put my hands on either side of his face and gently lifted it so the he was looking at me. I was standing in between his legs now as I looked at his face, making sure there wasn't anything too serious. I gently ran my finger tips over the welt under his eye and he winced so I pulled my hand back. Before I really thought about it I ran my hand down his face and rubbed my thumb across his lower lip, feeling his breath on me. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to kiss him, even if his lip was bleeding.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" I finally whispered as I looked right into his eyes.

"It's that stupid prick James," he practically growled.

_So sexy. Down Girl._

"What about him?"

"I overheard him talking about some things he would like to do to Alice!" he was shouting now. I placed my hands on his shoulders to try and calm him down.

"And let me guess, you decided to try and teach him a lesson?"

"It was going perfectly fine until his two friends jumped me." he muttered. "But anyways, a teacher spotted us, broke it up and sent us to the office. Luckily after I explained to him the situation he let me off with just detention and not a suspension."

"Edward, I understand that you don't want to hear things like that about your sister, but you could have seriously gotten hurt if that teacher hadn't found you. There are other ways to deal with things like this."

"It's my job to protect her Bella. She's my sister. I will always defend her in any situation. I would do it for Rose too, in a heart beat. Hell, I'd probably even do it for you now." he said as he looked away.

_Edward would defend me? Hot._

Suddenly, a wide smirk spread on his face as he turned back towards me.

"Say Bella, how would you feel about ditching?" he asked and raised one eye brow.

"With you?"

_Brilliant response Bella.._

"Of course."

"Um, I wouldn't be against it per se.."

"Perfect! You'll drive." he said as he hoped off the table and headed towards my truck.

_I guess I'm skipping school with Edward Cullen. _


	4. Kiss from a Rose

****AN/ Heelllllooo! I know it's been forever, but i ran into a little bit of writer's block. This chapter is a lot shorter than the other ones but I had to cut it off where I did. Also, this chapter got it's title because Rose has a very important role in this one. Anyways, on with the story!****

Chapter Four: Kiss from a Rose

**Bella's POV**

As I pulled up in the Cullen's drive way I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to do. Did he just want a ride home? Did he want me to come inside and hang out?

"Aren't your parents going to be mad that you're skipping?" I decided to ask instead.

" Nah, they are both at work, we won't get caught." he winked as he jumped out of my truck.

Well I guess that answers my first question. I got out of my truck and followed him up the steps into the house. I was suddenly really nervous. I had never truly been alone with Edward except for the short ride to school in his car. I followed him straight through to the kitchen and he pulled an ice pack out of the freezer to put on his face. He hissed as it touched his cheek.

"Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go to the hospital."

He rolled his eyes at me. "I'm fine Bella, it's just a couple of cuts and bruises. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Just some water is fine…"

He grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge but before he turned around he let out a big sigh and rested his forehead against the fridge door.

"Just ask already Bella."

_Damn how did he do that?_

"I'm just curious.. I mean, I know that something obviously happened to make you not trust people. That's why you act the way you do right? You figure that if you don't let them in then they can't do anything to hurt you right?" I asked and he slowly nodded his head. "Okay, I totally get that, but why are you pushing your family out? They all really care about you and from what they've told me they miss you. I mean, you only met me a few days ago and you seem to be able to be yourself around me, so why not them?"

I became nervous when he stayed silent for several minutes. Maybe this was it. Maybe I had finally pissed him off enough for him to tell me to get lost.

"I know, I shouldn't be treating them this way, but I can't tell them the truth." he finally answered quietly.

"Well you don't have to tell them the truth, you just have to go back to being your old self. Honestly they would be happy with that. They don't need to know every little detail of your life, they just want to be a part of it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Edward and I spent the better part of an hour just talking and getting to know each other. I learned that he was the captain of our schools hockey team and that he was pretty good. He's dream was to play hockey professionally and he was on the right track with that since he already had College and NHL scouts watching him play. It was easy to forget about the real world while I talked with him. I could honestly listen to him talk all day. Of course, I was suddenly brought back to the real world by the chiming of my phone indicating I had a text.

_**Bella where the Hell are you? Emmett says you didn't show up for calc and Edward never came to chem! **__- _**Alice**

_**Heeey Ally. Ummm yeah I'm at your house, with Edward… sorry I didn't tell you, it was kind of a last minute thing. - **_**Bella**

_**You're at my house? With Edward? Wtf is going on! Why was he in the office? And more importantly why are you both skipping! - **_**Alice**

_**Trust me, you'll see when you get home. - **_**Bella**

"Who was that?" Edward asked as I put my phone away.

"Oh that would be your sister, freaking out that we both aren't at school."

"Yeah, I probably should have filled them in on what was happening. Oh well, they'll be home in like 10 minutes anyways." he said as he got up to throw out our water bottles.

"Is it seriously the end of school already? Wow, that went by fast." I said surprised. Honestly, where had the day gone?

Sure enough, 10 minutes later the rest of the gang entered the house and Emmett's booming voice carried through the house.

"Yo little bro where you at!"

Edward rolled his eyes as he yelled back, "We're in the kitchen."

I didn't have to look up to know exactly when Emmett entered the kitchen.

"Holy shit! What the Hell happened!"

Edward had taken the ice pack off his face and it hadn't really helped at all. The whole side of his face was swollen, his eye black and swollen shut. It really did look quite bad and once again I worried that maybe he should go to the hospital and get checked out.

"What is all the yelling abo….Holy shit!" Rosalie cut off as she entered the kitchen behind Emmett.

Once everyone had finally calmed down enough for Edward to actually answer them he explained the situation with James to them and how he got off with just detention.

"Anyways," Edward said as he stood up, "I have to get to hockey practice. Wouldn't be very good for the captain to show up late for the first practice of the season."

"I'll give you a ride." Rosalie said while getting up.

"I can drive myself Rose."

"Not with your eye basically swollen shut! Now stop arguing. Besides, you know I love to watch you play." She said and winked at him.

I think I detected a little bit of a blush on his face. Cute.

"You're gonna play with your face looking like that?" Emmett asked.

"I've played with worse bro." Edward replied with a smirk.

"True brotha! Have fun." Emmett said as he and Edward bumped fists and Edward and Rosalie ran out the door.

"So Bella… you and Edward skipped together huh?" Alice asked me while raising her eyebrow.

"It's not anything scandalous Alice. I was going out to my truck to get my books and I saw him sitting outside. He told me what happened and asked me if I wanted to skip." I explained with a shrug.

It really hadn't seemed like a huge deal to me when he asked but I suddenly realized how it may look to the rest of them.

"Yea sure, no big deal Bella." Alice said as she headed to the TV room. I knew that she was far from done with this discussion.

* * *

><p>I spent the better part of the afternoon at the Cullen's house just hanging out and watching TV. It was nice to finally have a group of friends that I felt comfortable around. In Phoenix, I wasn't very sociable which left me with few friends. My mom pretty much became my best friend which is just sad I know. But this time, my friends chose me. Maybe it was fate that my clumsiness caused me to run into Rosalie Hale on my first day. I left around 5 so that I could get home and make dinner for my man-child father. I swear I felt like the parent most of the time. Charlie was a cool guy, and our relationship may seem odd to some people. He rarely ever became a father figure, he trusted me and my judgements and let me make my own decisions in life. I had no curfew, alcohol wasn't an issue for him just as long as I didn't drive <em>(shocking for the Chief of Police I know!). <em>I think that the best freedom Charlie gave me though was with boys. There was no dating rule enforced by Charlie, in fact he encouraged it. I've been in Forks for just over two weeks and what did he say to me at dinner the night before?

"_You know Bells, you should really get out there and find yourself a man soon, you aren't getting any younger."_

Wow. Thanks dad. Is it sad that even my dad knows about my lack of a love life? Now don't get me wrong, I'm no prude. In fact, Tuck Burrows took care of that at the winter formal last year. And ooooh boy can you say awkward? Needless to say, my world was not rocked and it left me wondering what the Hell the big deal was about anyways. Wasn't that good, just saying.

As I pulled into my driveway I noticed Charlie's car was already there. I just hoped to God he hadn't attempted to cook again.

"Hey Charlie!" I yelled as I entered the house.

"Hey Bells, wanna explain why I got a call from your school, claiming that you were skipping today?" Charlie asked as he stepped into the hallway, beer in hand, eye brow raised.

"Well, a friend of mine was having some troubles and I skipped with him, and it's not like I missed much, it's the beginning of the year." I rambled on.

"Geeze relax Bells, it's not like I'm mad at you. So this friend of yours, he's a boy huh? Do I know him?" he asked with a mischievous smile on his face.

Just as I opened my mouth to answer there was a knock on the door.

_Sweet, saved!_

As I opened the door, the last person I expected to see standing on my front porch was Edward Cullen in all his sexy glory.

_Shit did I just admit that? _

_Well I mean come on, the man is gorgeous!_

"Edward? What are you doing here?" I asked and blushed.

_Blushed! Seriously?_

"You uh, left your phone at my house earlier, I figured you'd want it back." ha said as he handed my phone to me.

"Oh, thanks. You really didn't have to come all the way over I could have gotten it tomorrow."

"Well damn Edward Cullen!" Charlie boomed as he walked over to the door.

"Chief Swan! How are you doing?" Edward asked as him and Charlie bumped fists.

_Legit. Edward Cullen and my FATHER just bumped fists. _

"Well I'm doing a Hell of a lot better than you are it would seem. Nice face." Charlie said.

"Dad! Don't be rude!" I shoved Charlie with my shoulder.

Edward chuckled. "It's alright Bella, my face looks like shit." he smirked.

"Well I hope the other guy looks worse. I would hate to have to arrest your ass for being a pansy." Charlie said as he punched Edward in the arm.

_See what I'm saying? Man-child._

"Oh trust me Chief he does. His two friends that jumped me however escaped without a scratch unfortunately."

"Three on one? Now that shit just isn't fair. Come on in, I gotta hear this story." Charlie said as he began to walk back into the living room.

"I'd love to entertain you with that Charlie but Rose is waiting for me in the car."

"Rose is here? I wanna go say hi, you boys can have your gossip time while I do." I said as I made my way out the door. I could already here them talking before I even had the door closed.

"Since when does my dad have a bromance with Edward? That shit just got weird in there." I said as I approached Rose's open window.

Rose laughed. "Yeah, The Chief has a soft spot for our Edward there and Edward has nothing but respect for the guy."

"So, how was the hockey practice?"

"Oh it was delicious. I swear is there anything hotter than seeing a bunch of men in hockey equipment? I mean hellooooo. There must be like some requirement that you need to be extremely good looking to play the sport." she laughed.

"I'm sure Emmett would appreciate that. So are you heading back over to the Cullen's?"

"Not yet, Ed says he needs to talk to me about something. He wants to go somewhere private and tell me."

This piqued my interest.

"Talk about what? Do you have any idea?"

"Not a damn clue, but I guess I'll find out soon enough here he comes."

Just then Edward appeared beside the car and said he'd see me at school in the morning before climbing in. I watched as they drove off down the street before I headed back inside to cook dinner for Charlie.

Dinner was interesting to say the least. Charlie spent the whole time talking about Edward. I swear, serious man-crush was happening here.

As I was walking up to my bed room my phone stared to ring and 'Alice' flashed across the screen.

"Hey Alice, what's up?"

"Bella, can you come over to my house? Like now?"

She sounded a little frantic and I could here a commotion going on in the back ground.

"Yeah, sure, I can head over right now. Alice, what's going on?"

"When Rose and Edward came back to the house they were both crying. We all thought something bad had happened but thankfully they are both ok. But Bella, Edward told her…"

"Told her what?"

"What's been bothering him for the past year. Bella, Edward told Rose everything."


	5. My Mother's Eyes

Chapter Five: My mother's eyes.

**Rose's POV**

I don't think anybody quite understands mine and Edward's relationship. Yes, we all hang out, and everyone knows that we are friends. But honestly, it goes deeper than that. Edward is honestly my best friend in this entire world (Don't tell Alice!). I will never forget the first time I ever lay eyes on that boy. I mean seriously, is it weird to think a boy is smoking hot at 5 years old? Well I did, and I was smitten. I took one look into those green eyes and ladies and gents I was a goner. Edward helped me through everything. When we first started school I was bullied. Shocking I know! Just as I was about to burst into tears one afternoon, along came my shining knight Edward. He walked me home that day, holding my hand the entire time. After that day, it sort of became an unspoken understanding. We took care of each other. Then when I was 7, my parents split up. To this day there hasn't been anything that's happened to me that has tore me apart as much as that did. I didn't leave my room for a week. It would have been a lot longer than that if one day I hadn't heard a tiny knock on my window. Sure enough, there was Edward, sitting in the tree house right outside my window. I climbed over to the tree house and found myself instantly wrapped in his arms. We sat there for hours, me crying my heart out, and Edward just silently comforting me. Even at only 7 years old, he knew exactly what I needed in that moment. I shared my first kiss with Edward Cullen that day. Now most people probably wonder why the Hell am I with Emmett? Well, as Edward and I grew older, we realized that the love we felt for each other was something a lot more special than most couples have. We were never meant to be together, but we were always meant to be in each other's lives. Taking care of each other. So that's what we did. The day Edward changed, I honestly felt my heart shatter. I realized that everyone is upset by it, but I honestly think it affected me the most. I lost him. I lost a piece of me. And I would do anything to get MY Edward back. So when he asked me to talk after his hockey practice, I accepted without any hesitation. We drove to our meadow, the place we hung out everyday when we were younger, and sat right in the centre of it side by side. He was hesitating, and he seemed nervous, but most of all, he looked defeated.

"Eddie, what's going on? You know you can tell me anything." I said softly.

He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine, "I know that Rosie, but I need you to promise me something before I tell you." he spoke in almost a whisper and turned his face towards me. There were tears already forming in his eyes.

"I'll promise you anything you want Edward, just please talk to me."

"I can't lose you Rose, please don't leave me. Don't treat me any different than you always have. Can you promise me that?"

"I promise."

"Last summer, I was getting ready to head to Seattle for the weekend with a couple of friends, but I needed some cash first. Nobody was home so I figured I could just grab some from one of my parents and let them know later. So I went into my dad's office and lifted his wallet up from his desk. Underneath it was a letter addressed to him. I honestly didn't mean to read it, but as my eyes skimmed over it I noticed my name in it so I had to. It was from a woman named Elizabeth Mason. She had become pregnant when she was just 16, from a one night stand to never be heard from again, and Carlisle was her doctor. She wanted to thank him. The day she went into labour was the same day my mom did. Carlisle wanted so bad to be in the room with my mom, but he had to do his job. So they compromised and put my mother and Elizabeth in the same room. Elizabeth had her baby first. She described him in the letter as the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on which had made her decision so much harder. Later that night when my father had went home and my mother was asleep, she snuck out of the hospital to never be heard from again. The shocking part was, she left her baby in his cradle right beside my mother's bed with a note attached to it. She explained how she would never be able to provide her child with the life he deserved and she knew leaving him was the best option for him. She said how she saw the love Carlisle and Esme had for their children and asked if they could find it in their heart to take in one more. She left the baby's birth certificate with him, with no name on it, and no signatures for either parent. It was blank. A baby for anyone to claim."

I sat there in complete stunned silence. I could feel tears falling down my face, and Edward was full on crying by this point. I had a feeling I knew where this story was going, but a small part of me was praying I was wrong.

"Rose, what's my name?" he asked.

"Edward…" I replied, confused as to why he would ask that.

"No, what's my FULL name?"

As I thought his name in my head, I let out a choked sob and covered my mouth with my hands.

"Rose, what is my name?" he asked again slowly.

"Edward Mason Cullen." I finally whispered.

"Exactly." he sighed. "The baby in that letter is me Rose. And Elizabeth Mason is my mother."

**Edward's POV**

So I told Rose.

I had to. I had to tell someone. Holding everything in was slowly driving me insane. I thought a lot about who I would tell. Alice and Emmett were definitely out, that I didn't even need to consider. I barely knew Bella so she was out as well. It came down to Jasper and Rosalie. Honestly, I could have chosen either of them without regretting it. Jasper is one of my best friends and I consider him a brother to me. He's also a very calm and wise person. I knew he would keep his cool about it and would probably have some pretty good advice for me. But when it came down to it, I knew I was going to need someone to comfort me. Someone who knew me better than anyone else in this world. And that person is without a doubt Rose. I decided to tell her after Bella and I had our talk in the kitchen. She said I didn't need to tell them everything about my life, they just wanted to be a part of it. That's when I decided I was going to stop shutting out my family. Sure, I had some trust issues that I need to deal with, but you're supposed to be able to trust your family always right? When Rose offered to drive me to practice I figured that it would be as good a time as any to talk to her about it. Practice was good for me. It helped take out some of my stress and as weird as it sounds, playing hockey is calming for me. Everything makes sense when I'm out on that ice. I can forget all the shit that's happening in my life and just enjoy playing the game I love. I want nothing more in life than to play professional hockey. Of course, Carlisle wasn't as enthusiastic about that dream as I was, but he would support me no matter what. He always told me growing up to follow your heart and dreams because they will lead you to where you will be truly happy.

The shock I saw on Rose's face wasn't that surprising. Believe me I was shocked as well when I found out. But then she did exactly what I needed from her, she wrapped her arms around me and comforted me while I cried my heart out. We sat in that meadow for over an hour, both of us just holding on to the other and crying. I suddenly wondered why I was so afraid to tell her in the first place. Of course she wouldn't treat me any different, she was Rose. She was there for me through everything and I knew she would be there for me this time too. All Hell broke loose as soon as we entered my house. When they all had calmed down enough for Rose and I to actually speak, I simply told them that I had explained to Rose what was going on and why I had been acting like an ass the past year. Of course, that wasn't enough for all of them.

"I'm sorry what? You told Rose? You told ROSE?" Alice screeched. "I mean no offence Rosie I love you, but Edward, I'm your twin, I'm your family! Why the Hell did you feel that you couldn't tell me?" she asked as tears formed in her eyes.

"I just can't Allie. I'm sorry. You know I love you so much, but I just can't tell you. Listen, I promise I won't be douchward anymore, but I can't tell you guys. I needed someone to talk to so I told Rose ok?" I pleaded just hoping that she would understand.

As she stomped away and I heard her freaking out on her phone I figured she hadn't accepted what I said.

"Listen Ed, I don't need to know. If you feel that you can't tell us then that's fine, it's your decision to make. I'm just happy that your going to work on being the real you again and if that means you need to confide in my sister and the rest of us back off then that's what we'll do." Jasper said as he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it in reassurance.

The only person left was Emmett. I honestly wasn't sure how he would take this. Not only was I not confiding in him, my brother, but I had chose to confide in his girlfriend.

"Now Emmett, before you say anything let me make this clear, I will not tell you what he told me. His secret is safe with me and I will take it to the grave if he asks me to. You love your brother with all your heart, and he needs you. I know I can't say what he told me, but I can say that it honestly breaks my heart, and he needs all of us. Understood?" Rose came to stand right beside me and gave Emmett 'the look' as I like to call it, aka, the 'don't you dare try to disagree with me' look.

"Understood." he said, then walked over to me and wrapped his giant arms around me. "I'll always be here for you little bro, anything you need." he whispered to me. The four of us went downstairs and put a movie in, none of us saying another word about it. Rose sat down beside me and snuggled into my side and Emmett just sat on the floor between our feet while Jasper took the recliner. That's the one thing I loved about Em, there I was snuggling up on the couch with his girlfriend and it doesn't even faze him. He knows that Rose and I are close and he has never once tried to get in the middle of it.

About 20 minutes into the movie I heard the doorbell ring and then Alice's frantic voice going a mile a minute.

"Who do you think that is?" Emmett asked while looking towards the stairs.

"Ten bucks says the pixie called Bella." Rose smirked as she too turned towards the stairs.

Sure enough, less than a minute later Alice came down the stairs followed by a confused looking Bella.

"Hey Bella." Jasper, Rose, Em and myself all said in unison.

_Freaky. We hang out too much clearly. _

"Hey." Bella replied with a little wave.

"Now listen, Bella, I don't know all what Alice has filled you in on, but while she was off having her little freak out the three of us made a decision. Yes, Ed told Rosie what's been bothering him and no, he isn't going to tell us. And Em and I have decided to respect that. If he wants us to know then he will tell us, if not, well we are just glad to have our Eddie back." Jasper said as he threw a pillow at me.

Alice's face looked like she literally may explode at any given moment so Jasper quickly jumped up from the couch and led her back upstairs to hopefully calm her down a bit. I felt bad about keeping things from Alice but if she couldn't respect the fact that I didn't want to talk about it we were going to have problems. Bella said nothing and just walked over and sat down in the arm chair and we all watched a movie.

Once the movie was over it was around 10 and everyone was heading home as it was a school night. I said bye to Jasper and Rose, Emmett walked them out while Alice stomped her way up to her room. Bella stopped on her way out the door and turned to me.

"So you decided to tell someone huh?"

"Yeah, you were right. Keeping it all to myself was driving me crazy, and I trust Rose with my life." I saw something flash in her eyes as I said this but just as quickly it was gone and she gave me a small smile.

"Well I'm glad you have someone to talk with about it now, and your family seems happy by this too."

"Yeah, everyone except Alice." I muttered.

"She'll come around. I honestly don't think she's upset that you chose to tell Rose, she's just frustrated that she doesn't know. She doesn't like to be out of the loop."

"Well who knows, maybe in time she will know."

Bella gave me a small smile and walked out to her truck. I watched as the two cars disappeared down our long tree-covered drive way.

As I lay in my bed that night I couldn't help but wonder if things would start to go back to normal. I had told the one person in my life that I feel the closest connection to and she hadn't run away. She was still looking at me the same way she always had. Maybe I would be able to tell the others in time. As I drifted off to sleep, my mind wandered to the one part of the story I hadn't told Rose and I wasn't sure if I would. The reason Elizabeth had wrote to Carlisle, was to ask him for a favour. She had been diagnosed with cancer and was dying, and she had one last wish before she went, to meet me.


End file.
